


Aged Mirror

by TheCloneWriter



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Child Abuse, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:14:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26074738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCloneWriter/pseuds/TheCloneWriter
Summary: Edalyn Clawthorne is young witchling with a difficult house life when everything in her life suddenly changes. With help from the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, Luz Noceda, she seeks to not only mend her damaged relationship with her sister, but to also uncover the secrets that underlay the previous generation of witches.Why was the Owl Lady so determined to find her friends? Why was the Emperors Coven trying so hard to capture her? And why was a home security system designed as an annoying owl door?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	Aged Mirror

“It was only a single cafeteria fight, the kid deserved it!” 

“I don’t care if they deserved it, you’ve tarnished our reputation again Edalyn.”

“What, you want me to abandon my sister to those bullies?!”

“This isn’t about her Edalyn, and you know that!”

“It's never been about her, because you don’t care about us or what happens to us!”

“EDALYN BE QUIET!”

There was a short pause as the tension ran high in the home, disturbed only by the occasional crackle of fire. Then…

“Mom wouldn’t have let this happen you fu-!” ‘SMACK’

For a few moments it was quiet again, before Dad’s voice once more growled across the kitchen.

“Go to your rooms. Now.”

After hearing no response to his demand, the man straightened up and looked at them both. 

“I SAID NOW!”

Eda was carried away by her sister to the stairway nearby, but even as she was led by Lilith she still glared at her father, tears running down her cheeks. She knew her face was scrounged up in a mix of fear and anger, but the man never changed his own dominating glare as they left.

The pain in her cheek stung badly and a nasty red mark remained, but even so it was nothing more than a backdrop in her raging thoughts. She wanted to leave, she wanted to get revenge on the man that had once been her father, but most of all… she just wanted Lilith to be safe. 

As they neared her bedroom, Eda could tell that her sister’s hands were shaking. Gripping slightly onto Lilith’s waist to comfort her, she briefly saw her sister’s eyes which were red and puffy just like Eda’s own, but filled with mixed emotions she couldn’t make out. When Eda tried to speak, she was unexpectedly silenced by a slight shove that pushed her up onto her bed. Lilith pulled the blankets over and froze for just a moment before quickly walking out the room, not even saying a word as she left. 

Eda barely even had the chance to say goodnight before the door slammed shut, making her recoil at the sudden sound. For some reason that hurt more than the stinging on her face, and she was forced to wonder if it had been worth arguing with Dad or standing up to the bullies. 

She knew Lilith had been quietly waiting for some time to ask Dad about the upcoming Convention, seeking to get the needed permission to head in. Now though, after nearly a week of silently building up Dad’s good side to ask the question, Eda had just burned that opportunity to the ground. 

But it hadn’t been fair! The school simply refused to act out against the bullying her sister was receiving, and Dad hadn’t cared in the slightest. She had to do something to help, and so she acted out in the only way she knew how; with magic. Admittedly, abominations had perhaps been slightly overboard, but ultimately she had felt confident it got the message across. The only unexpected part of the plan was the school’s reaction. 

All of this was unfair. 

The school, her Dad’s anger, Lilith’s burnt opportunity, it just wasn’t FAIR.

The room shook as Eda raged, magic lashing out against anything nearby in sparks of flame and arcs of lightning. As photos were destroyed and her drawer was scorched, she gave out a cry of desperate anger before finally stopping, kneeling over her sheets with a heavy breath. And then came the tears. 

As much as she tried to fight them, she couldn’t stop crying. The pain in her chest grew tighter and tighter until she collapsed into the blankets, hugging her knees to her chest. It hurt so much, knowing she betrayed the trust of the only person who cared about her, knowing that her family would never go back to the way it had been.

She had promised Lilith she wouldn’t cause problems until after the Convention. Sworn up and down that she’d do her best for her sister. And now that trust was gone, replaced by what Eda could only guess was hate. 

For a moment, she doubted herself. Had she made the right decision defending Lilith from those bullies? Was she really just the nuisance her father insisted she was? He only was ever impressed by her when she showed off her magical abilities, and even now that seemed tarnished by his sudden obsession with their reputation. 

Was she really… worthless?

Something in her fought against that idea feverishly, but the thought burrowed into her head, repeating over and over and over. And as she laid in her bed thinking about that single line, she felt exhaustion take hold of her body, sucking away whatever strength she had left. Slowly her eyes began to close, and she felt her consciousness fade away as sleep took its alluring hold.

The last thing she saw was the frame of a figure in her doorway with two large white eyes looking towards her. And then... there was nothing. Nothing but dreams of better days.

\---

Getting up in the morning was something Eda had never been good at. In fact, she often slept in through the morning and enjoyed her beauty sleep, letting her abominations take notes from one of the holes she had drilled into the classroom (something that infuriated Lilith as she had no idea how Eda was keeping up with her despite skipping class). Yet today was different. 

When she awoke covered in bedsheets and curled up into a ball, she felt nothing more than a hollow emptiness inside of herself. It was a strange feeling, and although she had felt it before to a lesser extent, it felt deeper than it had before. Perhaps more prevalent? She rolled over and laid her back against the bed, trying to get out of bed unsuccessfully. 

Staring up at the ceiling in silence wasn’t something she did often, but for once it felt almost… nice was too strong of a word, perhaps appropriate? Usually when she was thinking it would be for new pranks, looking up more research material for her projects, studying magic to keep ahead of Lilith, so forth. Yet now she was just narrating her own thoughts, letting a dim silence take over her mind.

Brief emotions came and went, colors sparked in her mind's eye, and all the while she stared up at the bland ceiling fan above her as it swooshed along lazily, a dull feeling of soreness in her cheek.

She didn’t know how long she just laid there, but she scantly could find the effort to care either. Maybe she had finally managed to sleep past noon like she used to do back when she was younger, encouraging her to tilt her head towards her clock-

“Seriously?!”

The bright green light of the clock proudly displayed the numbers ‘7:21’ on its front, and Eda wondered if she was seeing right. She had never managed to sleep through an entire day before, and for good reason. Her father was angry enough when she woke up late (when he knew about it), and the fear of him finding out where she was now was enough to rouse her to action, quickly gathering her clothes as she tried to rush her morning routine. Maybe she could fool Dad into thinking she had been at school all day, if she just quietly snuck out the window and came in with the excuse she had been over with friends. 

Putting on the last of her clothing, Eda grabbed her bag and swung open the window, only to be blinded by a bright light. 

“Agh! What is going… on…?” 

The bright morning sun shone over the valley of where they lived outside, and Eda glanced at the clock by her bed. In the same green light as the numbers, much smaller than them were the letters ‘AM’. 

For a moment she was dumbstruck, lost at what to do. Then, as everything began to come together, she gave a loud groan and flopped back onto bed, not bothering to get undressed. Her waist uncomfortably hung over the side of the bed as she scowled at the bright light, letting out a dejected, quiet whisper. 

“I hate mornings.”

\---

She didn’t stay in bed for long after that, although what exactly had managed to get her up was something she couldn’t identify. Heading downstairs, she saw Lilith working on something in her notebook at the dining table, and… her father sitting at his desk in his office.

Yet even seeing her father and Lilith downstairs felt almost… muted, in a way. She felt fear looking at her Dad, shame looking at her sister, and yet both those feelings seemed somehow... distant. Elusive, maybe? Mulling on this for only a moment, Eda scurried down the hallway and only just caught the disapproving look of Lilith as she went, a mix of surprise in her sister’s face. 

Moving quickly past, she grabbed her shoes that sat near the door and began putting them on, trying to hurry along in order to leave. While she typically escorted Lilith to school, she somehow doubted her sister wanted that for today.

She was only stopped when loud steps began to ring from behind her, her father's deep voice cutting through the silence. 

“Eda. Where do you think you’re going?”

Gulping, she looked back at the man and mumbled out an answer. “To school…”

His raised eyebrow left her confused, before the events of yesterday finally flooded back in. The cafeteria fight, the school’s overreaction, their expulsion. 

“Agh… I…”

If he cared about what she was thinking, he didn’t show it. Instead, he walked back towards his office and loudly called out, “Both of you pack your things, we’re leaving.”

\---

The flight across the isles was tense as Eda stayed as far from her father as she could manage, letting Lilith hold onto her waist as they sat on his staff. Trees whipped past below quickly as they crossed the line separating the Upper Ribs from the Lower, a large fallen rib bone that crossed this half of the chest, the only sound being the whistling of the wind.

“We’re going to your Uncle’s, where I’ll be dropping both of you off for a few months. That way you can be out of my hair and transfer to Hexside easier.” 

Eda didn’t know a lot about her uncle, much less the rest of her family on her Dad’s side, but she had overheard her parents talk about him when she was younger. Doing her best to recall the memory, the only thing she could clearly remember was the shouting and brief mention of an addiction, something that probably boded poorly for their trip.

Still, getting away from Dad was going to be a nice benefit. Maybe she could even throw a party for once, if she managed to make a few friends. Glancing back towards Lilith, she tried to offer something of an encouraging smile but was met with nothing more than a cold look, making her heart sink. 

Looking back ahead, Eda gripped onto the staff and closed her eyes, trying to gather herself for their arrival. She could do this; she was confident, she was brave, and she was more than what her father thought she was. 

Shaking away linger doubts from the forefront of her mind, Eda finally saw the town of Bonesborough through the morning heat fog. The tall gothic structures made of stone and bone were iconic enough for her to have heard of the place before, although she never looked deeper into the town itself. Tall stacks of smoke rose from red chimneys and the streets alike, flashes of magic illuminating sections of the town on occasion. In the distance she saw the tall coliseum-like town center at the heart of the town, with a large stained glass window of a circle with five differently colored circles inside it. 

The staff suddenly changed direction towards some of the houses on one of the higher quarters of the town, coming to land near a porch of a house that looked more abandoned than some of the haunted houses she had explored before. 

Hopping off with Lilith, she barely managed to catch the package her father tossed her as he looked over them both with a neutral expression. 

“Give this to him when you see him. Goodbye.”

And with that he was gone, bursting away in a flash of speed that left her covered in dust. 

“Well… at least we get to explore a new place, right?” Eda offered to her sister, trying her best to smile despite their circumstances. 

Lilith said nothing, quietly taking the box from her before walking up to the front door and giving it a knock. When no one answered, she tried to open the door instead, getting only the rumble of a locked door instead. 

Eda tried to put her hand on Lilith’s shoulder, but her sister only coldly brushed her off and glared in her direction, huffing loudly before sitting down on the nearby porch. She looked angry, resentful even, and Eda couldn’t find it in herself not to blame her. 

Looking away, Eda instead chose to walk around the back and sit on one of the open balconies attached to the side of the house, letting her legs swing over the side as she tried to think of some way to make it up to her sister. Yet despite being equipped with a remarkable intelligence that could defeat any teacher’s preparation, Eda just couldn’t think of a way to make her sister trust her again. There had to be something she could do, but right now, alone and in some town miles from home? 

Giving one last sigh, Eda sat back and looked up at the noon sky. This day couldn’t possibly get any worse.

A loud explosion nearby stirred her from her thoughts, and before Eda could make out what was happening further downtown, a figure riding a staff of her own landed on the balcony she was on. 

The woman looked tall, thin and mysterious, draped in a blue cloak that had runic circles drawn all across its length, with a sharp cowl in the shape of a beak covering her head. Brown strands of hair escaped its edges, and Eda was shocked when the cowl fell back revealing a pair of stubby little ears on the person’s head. 

With a confident smirk and energetic brown eyes, the woman looked her way and offered her a gloved hand.

“Hi there, my name’s Luz. Mind helping me for a minute?”

**Author's Note:**

> This a work I'm kinda on the edge of working on to begin with, but I hope you all enjoy. See you for the next chapter!


End file.
